"Thich Nhat Hanh, the 87-year-old Zen master considered by many to be
the father of mindfulness in the west, says as long as business leaders
practice "true" mindfulness, it does not matter if the original
intention is triggered by wanting to be more effective at work or to
make bigger profits. That is because the practice will fundamentally
change their perspective on life as it naturally opens hearts to greater
compassion and develops the desire to end the suffering of others.

Sitting in a lotus position on the floor of his monastery at Plum Village
near Bordeaux, France, Thay tells the Guardian: "If you know how to
practice mindfulness you can generate peace and joy right here, right
now. And you'll appreciate that and it will change you. In the
beginning, you believe that if you cannot become number one, you cannot
be happy, but if you practice mindfulness you will readily release that
kind of idea. We need not fear that mindfulness might become only a
means and not an end because in mindfulness the means and the end are
the same thing. There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way."
[...]
"If you consider mindfulness as a means of having a lot of money,
then you have not touched its true purpose," he says. "It may look like
the practise of mindfulness but inside there's no peace, no joy, no
happiness produced. It's just an imitation. If you don't feel the energy
of brotherhood, of sisterhood, radiating from your work, that is not
mindfulness."

As he puts it: "If you're happy, you cannot be a
victim of your happiness. But if you're successful, you can be a victim
of your success."
[...]
Thay was recently invited by the World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, whose favorite book is Thay's The Miracle of Mindfulness and who praises the Zen monk's practice for being "deeply passionate and compassionate toward those who are suffering," to the organization's Washington headquarters for an event that was hugely popular with staff.

This did not prevent some senior colleagues, who were nervous about how such a visit would be seen to the outside world, from criticizing the move before the event. The Economist did, in fact, publish a critical article.

But Kim remains resolute. He tells the Guardian he fended off criticism by pointing to multiple scientific studies showcasing the benefits of mindfulness.
[...]
He and a group of monastics spent a day at Google's headquarters,
spending time with the senior management as well as leading around 700
employees through mindfulness discussions and sitting and walking
meditation. So many staff wanted to take part that the company had to
open up two additional locations to live stream his lecture.
[...]
At the day-long retreat with the CEOs, Thay led a silent meditation
and offered a Zen tea ceremony before talking to the group of largely
billionaires about how important it is that they, as individuals, resist
being consumed by work at the expense of time with their families:
"Time is not money," he told them. "Time is life, time is love."
Back
at his Plum Village monastery, near Bordeaux, Thay says of his trip:
"In all the visits, I told them they have to conduct business in such a
way that happiness should be possible for everyone in the company. What
is the use of having more money if you suffer more? They also should
understand that if they have a good aspiration, they become happier
because helping society to change gives life a meaning."
The trip
was just the beginning, he adds. "I think we planted a number of seeds
and it will take time for the seeds to mature," he says. "If they begin
to practise mindfulness, they'll experience joy, happiness,
transformation, and they can fix for themselves another kind of
aspiration. Fame and power and money cannot really bring true happiness
compared to when you have a way of life that can take care of your body
and your feelings.""